Southern Patagonian Ice Field

Cleopatra’s Needles

Los Angeles is not a place you would expect to find me unless there was an extremely good reason, and witnessing our first and only grandson graduating from college was an irresistible cause. Although the family event was worthwhile, it was no fun enduring the crazy chaos of the city, and so it was a good time to take a mental trip to Patagonia, back to the Parque Nacional del Torres del Paine.

The road to the Whitney Trail starts in Lone Pine and climbs the long winding canyon to let hikers climb the highest elevation in the continental US.

As we drove down the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, I was inspired by the sudden sharp steep rise of the Sierra escarpment over the dry high desert of the Owens Valley. The valley averages about 4,000 feet elevation and Mount Whitney is just over 14,000. That’s a pretty dramatic rise. The Sierra massif is penetrated by deep winding canyons every few miles- the passes by which hikers can gain access to the interior of the range and the high peaks which are the jewels of the Sierras. It’s not unlike the mountains of Patagonia.

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Discovering Parque Nacional de Torres del Paine

Discovering the Parque Nacional de Torres del Paine

Lady Florence Dixie, born Florence Caroline Douglas in 1855.

Yesterday I was casting about trying to come up with something more interesting to say about our first day at Parque Nacional de Torres del Paine other than “Holy cow wouldja look at those mountains!,“ when I stumbled across the name Lady Florence Dixie, who was one of the first Europeans to travel around Patagonia. She was also the first European woman to go to Patagonia. But the coolest thing about Lady Florence was that she wrote a book about her trip, and it was published in 1881. Lady Florence was a Scottish Upper Class Victorian Tomboy. She could ride horses and shoot a rifle; she loved the outdoors and had a passion for adventure. She was also a pretty good writer, a claim needing no further proof other than the fact that her books are still in print today! You can order them from Amazon, and you can read her book “Across Patagonia” for free online at Google Books.

Accompanied by her husband, two brothers and the artist John Beerbohm, Lady Florence sailed to Argentina on a ship, and traveled to the Andes on horseback. Led by local guides, they camped and hunted for their food, met tribes of native Teheulche, endured all kinds of weather, encountered pumas, foxes, condors and herds of wild horses, deer, guanaco and rheas (she called the ostriches), not to mention a vast array of other flora and fauna. A trip to Patagonia was an unusual choice for an upper class Lady in the 1870s. It’s still an uncommon destination for tourists, given Patagonia’s well earned reputation for rugged peaks, harsh weather and remote location. Lady Florence’s rationale for going to Patagonia still resonates today: Continue reading “Discovering Parque Nacional de Torres del Paine”

Perito Moreno Glacier

The Perito Moreno

I had never seen a glacier before. At least, not up close and personal, and certainly not a real live monster like the Perito Moreno!* Most of my glacier experience has been from my living room, sitting in the comfort of the lazy boy chair with a couple of dogs on my lap, watching BBC Earth videos. So nothing prepared me for the immensity and grandeur of the Perito Moreno. Nothing could. There is nothing like being there and realizing that you are a not only a tiny speck in the grand scheme of things, but also a relatively soft, fragile and transient speck. Relative to a glacier, that is. In comparison to the forces that created this massive river of ice, I feel like I have a lot in common with a humble gnat!

The front wall of Perito Moreno stretches 3 miles from one side to the other.

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Reborn Earth

There is a place on the far southern tip of the South American continent where the Earth is being born….again.

Although The birth is not for the first time, but rather a rebirth, it is no less dramatic or miraculous. The place is in the land called Patagonia,and you can see the birth happening with your naked eye at the western end of Lago Viedma, where the Viedma glacier ends and the Lake begins. You can even walk on the newly emerged infant earth, and touch it’s raw and rarefied skin. It is impossible to find words to describe the surreal grandeur of this place- human language is ludicrously inadequate! Of course there is no substitute for going there yourself, but the trip is long and costly, so I brought back photos. Continue reading “Reborn Earth”